Trump told me to deny alleged affair, Hope Hicks tells trial

This is not the first time Hope Hicks has had to testify in an investigation involving her former boss.

Hicks was questioned during Congress' investigation into the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, when Trump's supporters besieged the building.

Hicks has proven a critical corroborator in past probes and will likely play an important role in this case, says Norm Eisen, a former ambassador and attorney who has also been in the courtroom watching the trial.

“She tells the truth,” Eisen previously told the BBC.

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Donald Trump stopped outside the courtroom to briefly speak with media, as he has done every day of this trial.

He wouldn't comment on Hope Hicks' testimony, saying he can't because of the gag order. But he did say he was "very interested in what took place today".

He also criticised the prosecutors, and then pivoted to talk about politics.

After speaking for about three minutes in total, the former president left.

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Spotted outside the courthouse earlier: a cowboy on a horse carrying an American flag.

It’s not an usual sight on the streets of Manhattan, but it's yet another example of how this trial has turned the court complex into a spectacle.

The man said he was here to support Donald Trump and was sickened by his charges.

After some quick housekeeping matters, the judge has called it a day.

Donald Trump will likely give a statement to the cameras outside the courtroom soon, we will bring you the latest as it happens.

At the end of Hope Hicks' testimony, we heard more about how Donald Trump dealt with the allegations of being unfaithful to his wife. He denies these claims.

Hicks spoke earlier about his concerns for Melania.

“President Trump really values Mrs. Trump’s opinion,” Hicks told the court.

“She doesn’t weigh in all the time, but when she does it’s really meaningful to him. He really, really respects what she has to say.”

Melania's perception of the affairs were “weighing on him”, Hicks alleged.

And with that, we're done with testimony from Hicks.

Justice Merchan has just excused the jurors for the weekend, reminding them not to talk about the case and to "continue to keep an open mind".

Michael Cohen wasn’t looped in on the day-to-day of campaign operations, Hope Hicks testifies.

But Cohen tried to insert himself into the campaign, she tells the court.

Trump's lawyer Emil Bove asks her if there were times Cohen did things that frustrated campaign staff.

Yes, Hicks responds.

Things that frustrated the campaign?

Yes.

Went rogue?

Yes.

“He liked to call himself fixer, or Mr Fix-it," Hicks said. "And it was only because he first broke it.”

Reuters/Jane RosenbergCopyright: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

Donald Trump is sitting back in his chair with his fingers steepled, watching Hope Hicks testify.

Though her testimony could prove harmful to her boss, she has spoken of him in flattering terms when given room to assess his character.

Hicks says Trump does "a really nice job" of maintaining relationships, particularly with the press.

"Even if he doesn’t always think the treatment he gets is fair, he still is willing to engage," she said.

Let's rewind for just a moment.

Before we switched over to cross-examination, prosecutors were asking Hope Hicks about a statement Michael Cohen gave to the New York Times.

In it, he claimed he had paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush-money without Trump’s knowledge to protect him and his family from a false rumour.

The prosecutor asks Hicks if this seemed “consistent” with her interactions with Cohen.

Hicks says it would be “out of character for Michael”.

“I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person,” she tells the court.

Hicks says Trump told her that he thought it was a generous thing to do and he was "appreciative of the loyalty".

Hicks is back on the stand now after a short break.

Trump’s Lawyer Emil Bove has resumed questioning her.

He's asking her about her role at the Trump Organization and other people who worked there, including Trump's former assistant, Rhona Graff, who testified earlier.

We’re taking a break after Hope Hicks just got emotional on the stand.

She started tearing up after a Trump lawyer asked her if a White House position had been created so she could come on board.

When we started the day, Hicks told the court how nervous she was to be there.

Prosecutors are asking Hicks about Trump’s reaction to the Wall Street Journal story, which alleged affairs with multiple women - including Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels.

Hicks says Trump was worried.

“He was concerned how it would be viewed by his wife and he wanted me to make sure that the newspapers weren’t delivered to their residence that morning,” she says.

This is one of few mentions of Melania Trump that we’ve heard during the trial.

David Pecker, the National Enquirer publisher, previously testified that the allegations were a concern for Trump because of his campaign, not his family.

Prosecutors are asking Hicks about messages she exchanged with Michael Cohen after the Wall Street Journal published its Karen McDougal story.

Cohen told Hicks the story was “lots of innuendos with little facts”.

Hicks wrote back: “I agree with most of that” but said the article would get traction because “the media is the worst”.

Cohen replied later to say the story was getting “little to no traction”.

Hicks explains to court that the Wall Street Journal story ultimately attracted a much smaller audience than the story about the Access Hollywood tape.

We’re back talking about the Wall Street Journal story that revealed the hush-money payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

The article was eventually published just days before the 2016 election.

Prosecutors have Hope Hicks read aloud the statement she eventually gave to the outlet.

“We have no knowledge of any of this,” Hicks said in the article, calling the affair “totally untrue”.

Hicks says Trump told her to say that claims of an affair were untrue.

The former president has also denied McDougal's allegations of an affair.

During the court recess, I struck up a conversation with a few members of the public who are here with the media in the overflow room to watch the court proceedings.

Given the significance and polarising nature of this trial, they wanted to observe it for themselves. They range from regular New Yorkers to a judge.

Judge Brian McDonald from King County, Seattle, said he arrived just as Donald Trump was speaking to the press in the hallway.

He said it was striking to compare Trump's combative descriptions of key figures in this case to the “calm and soothing” demeanour of Judge Merchan in court.

He’s been impressed so far with both the prosecution and the defence.

When I asked what he made of seeing a former president as a criminal defendant, he simply remarked:

Quote Message: It’s the United States, anyone can be a criminal defendant.”

It’s the United States, anyone can be a criminal defendant.”

Court is now back in session for the afternoon.

Donald Trump has just walked back into the courtroom followed by his lawyer, Todd Blanche.

We'll continue with more testimony from Hope Hicks, who was beginning to discuss some details of the hush-money schemes before we broke for lunch.

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Court will soon return after the lunch break, so let's have a quick refresher of what happened so far today:

• Proceedings kicked off with more testimony from forensic analyst Doug Daus. Trump's lawyer sought to create doubt about evidence found on Michael Cohen's phone
• New York County District Attorney's Office paralegal Georgia Longstreet testified that she reviewed between 5,000-10,000 social media posts.
• The social media testimony set up discussion of the infamous Access Hollywood tape
• The court viewed an apology video Trump released in response to the tape, but not the tape itself - which cannot be shown to the jury
• Hope Hicks took the stand as the highest-profile witness of the day, testifying about her time as Trump's former press secretary and director of communications
• Prosecutors pressed Hicks on Trump’s response to the release of the Access Hollywood tape in 2016

Here's the latest courtroom sketch from artist Jane Rosenberg. It capture this morning's testimony from forensic analyst Douglas Daus.

Reuters/Jane RosenbergCopyright: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

So far, Hope Hicks has shared about an hour of dramatic, and somewhat salacious, testimony while seated just a few metres away from the man at the centre of these stories.

Though he must sit silently, Trump's presence is looming large over this testimony.

Hicks has talked at length on her behind-the-scenes recollections of the Wall Street Journal story about former Playboy model Karen McDougal's "catch-and-kill" deal.

“I felt the point of the story was that the National Enquirer paid a woman for her story and never published it," Hicks told the court.

"It wasn’t necessarily about accusations of" - and here, she inserted a very lengthy pause - "certain behaviour”.